Silence

On my way to the Marquette University Library Archives this morning I stopped at McDonald’s for some coffee and an Egg McMuffin. I wanted to sit down and write out some questions for the Catholic Worker archivist I was visiting. I expected some noise at McDonald’s with people talking. However, I was not expecting there would be four TV’s, one in each corner, featuring two different stations with sound on high. I struggled to write out my questions with the overwhelming noise in the background. My spirits were tired and low.

The weather was gloomy outside but once I entered the Library all went quiet and my spirits started to rise. I could even hear myself talking with my friend in the conference room. After our conversation I got to work on my research on Dorothy Day and her thoughts on military training in our education system. The silence in the reading room was wonderful and after a few hours of research I felt really good and refreshed. As I was going downstairs on the elevator a student entered and said hello. I noticed she was shaking her head in rhythm but then I realized she was listening to music on ear plugs from her iPod. Silence on the outside and organized noise, music, in her ears.

When I got outside the sun was shining. I realized that I had been in the library so long that the meter on my car had run out. But things were going well and there was no parking ticket on my car.

The rest of the day went well. I got a chance to read while silently waiting for my wife to get treatment for her pain. The pain seems to be deceasing. When I got home from her appointment I went outside to work on the gardens. The silence of nature was, as usual, outstanding.

Tonight for dinner my wife felt so well that she taught me how to cook one of my favorite meals, Middle Eastern kibbeh. The Phillies won the National League Championship tonight. That was noisy but in good way. There is good noise and wonderful silence.

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